I invite you to turn with me this morning to Luke chapter 19. It's where we find Luke's account of what we call the triumphal entry. We'll read together verses 28. I had said through 40 in the bulletin, but let's go through verses 44. The text being verses 39 and 40 of this portion of Scripture. Right before this, our Lord had told the parable of what's called the ten minas. Verse 11 says, while they were listening to this, He went on to tell them a parable because He was near Jerusalem. And the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. And He tells them this parable about this man of noble birth. He went to a distant country to be made king. They tried to protest. We don't want this man for a king. And that's somewhat the context going into what we call the triumphal entry. So beginning at verse 28, as we now hear the Word of God. After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. if anyone asks you why are you untying it tell him the lord needs it those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them as they were untying the cold its owners asked them why are you untying the cold they replied the lord needs it they brought it to jesus threw their cloaks on the colt and put jesus on it as he went along people spread their cloaks on the road When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. The text again, verses 39 and 40. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. I tell you, He replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. A beloved in Christ the Lord. Imagine an outsider. One who was not familiar with this Jesus, didn't know this particular Jesus. One who hadn't seen all of the miracles and the signs and the wonders that he had performed. Imagine this outsider on that particular day watching this grand yet peculiar parade. Grand because of the multitudes, the vast multitude filled with joy and hope and seeming to have a purpose before them. Peculiar though because what was visible didn't seem to match the words of praise that they heard. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Each of the Gospel writers record this event. Each of them give the praises a little bit differently. The other three all add, Hosanna! Save now! These are the words this outsider would have heard. But what would the outsider have seen? He would have seen Jesus, an ordinary looking man riding on a donkey colt, a beast of burden, an animal of peace. They call him a king, but this is no royal stallion. It's not a horse of war. And they treat him like a king. They take off their coats and they put him over the donkey and they also put him over the path for him to ride over. That's a sign of respect. It's a sign of submission. They were willing to submit to this one who was an ordinary looking man riding on this beast of burden. yet again amidst the shouts of the praise there's nothing hopeful looking about this there's nothing powerful looking about this and this outsider having seen this and having heard these words he might think well you know these people are a little bit odd these people are a little bit off they're a bit blind but of course we all know that hope that hope can be blind We all know that hope can make one believe the unbelievable, the impossible. Again, we call this redemptive event the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus Christ as He entered Jerusalem for the last time before His death where He indeed would be triumphant. And although those who praised Him had a mistaken view of the triumph He would bring and of the kind of king that He would be, yet they were correct. They were correct in hailing Him, the King who comes in the name of the Lord. But there was another group there that day, the Pharisees, whom we know fairly well. The Pharisees saw no hope in this Jesus whatsoever. Therefore, they tried to stop this celebration by challenging the praises to Jesus. By challenging the praises, these people were shouting, giving to Jesus. And they challenged Him with their unreasonable request. But we notice also his incomprehensible response to their challenge. Now Luke alone, of all four, record the triumphal entry. But Luke is the only one who records this particular short dialogue between the Pharisees and Jesus. And on the one hand, we can understand what the Pharisees are saying. As parents, we've said this a lot to our kids. Stop. Stop what you're doing. But we have a bit of a harder time. We have to wonder what Jesus meant. I, too, had a difficult time in preparing the sermon. It was fun. It was exciting. But this passage has always kind of struck me. What in the world was Jesus talking about? And I believe there's a wonderful kingdom truth taught here. But with regard to their challenge, notice first their unreasonable request again. Verse 39, Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. Now, this was not a question. It was not a statement. It was a command. And from where we stand in redemptive history, looking back 2,000 years, we see that they are commanding the commander himself. And that shows us the ignorance of the Pharisees. We know from where we stand today that this Jesus is the Son of God. He is God Himself. He is the One who is the Son of Psalm 2, the King who would be enthroned on Zion. He is the Child of whom Isaiah said would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is the One of whom the angels spoke about to the shepherds when the angels said, Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. He is the one about whom God the Father at the Son's baptism said, this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And then later on, at the Transfiguration, which Reuben Cernos hopes to preach on tonight, the Father added, hear Him. Jesus Himself said, I and My Father are one. And He said, if you love Me, you will obey what I command. And of course, before He ascended into heaven, Matthew 28, He said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. This One, the people claimed, was sent by God. He is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. The Pharisees challenged this very One. They are commanding the Commander of the heavens and the earth. The very One on whom their lives depend. But they do not understand this. Because as they are commanding the commander, they are commanding him in unbelief. They saw nothing kingly about Jesus. They saw nothing in him that they thought could help them or be of an advantage to them. They simply call him teacher. Teacher, nothing more. He's no different than any other teacher. He's just like all those who have come before that have something to say and happen to gain a following around him. These men were among the leaders of the people. They were in charge of God's people. They didn't want the people to declare one to be the Messiah, whom they had determined definitely was not the Messiah. And therefore, all of this to them was just foolish speaking, and it must stop. The charade must stop. The Scripture tells us the people shouted with hope because of all the miracles they had seen. Through all those miracles, through all this teaching, Jesus had been revealing Himself more and more of who He is. That indeed He is God Himself. He is the Messiah. But the Pharisees were unmoved by the signs and the wonders that Jesus performed. And to them, Jesus did not deserve the praise of the people. If He truly was a preacher of righteousness and humility, He would practice what He preached and He would not tolerate such shouts of acclamation and praise which should be reserved for somebody much greater than He. Because they, the Pharisees, and He, at least in their minds, knew that He did not deserve these praises. The bottom line is the Pharisees hated Jesus and they were more concerned with how He might affect them, how He might affect their power and their position. As they are commanding the commander, They command Him in unbelief, but they're also commanding Him in fear. Fear for Jesus. Not reverential fear. Not obedient fear. But fear for Jesus because the multitudes were looking to Him. Not to them. In John 11, verse 48, we read that they acknowledged His miraculous signs, but they say, if we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him. And then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. Everybody's going to believe in Him. Who's going to be left to listen to us? They had fear for Jesus because of His popularity, because His following was growing. And that also then made them have fear for the multitudes. And that's made more clear after Jesus enters Jerusalem and cleanses the temple. In Mark 11, verse 18, we read that the chief priests and the teachers of the law began looking for a way to kill him. Why? For they feared Jesus because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. And similar to that, at the end of a parable following this episode in Luke chapter 20, the parable of the tenants, the master sent his servants to gather the harvest, and the tenants drove them off and they killed him. He sent His Son. They killed the Son. And the Master said, well, they're going to be killed. And at the end of this, verse 19, it says, the teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest Him immediately because they knew He had spoken this parable against them, but they were afraid of the people. In the text, the Pharisees say, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. Warn them, boys and girls. Threaten them. Now, there are two main Greek terms that are translated as rebuke. One of them is a rebuke of conviction because of a wrong that has already been done. Someone is warned, threatened, because they've already done something wrong and they are convicted of doing that wrong. But here it's a rebuke or a warning that's not necessarily deserved. It's a bit softer. And it does not bring to conviction. It doesn't claim to say something's been done wrong already. Boys and girls, think about it this way. If you're fighting with your brother or sister, your mom or dad might warn you, threaten you, rebuke you. And they can do it in one of two ways. On the one hand, they might say, stop fighting because someone might get hurt. The hurt hasn't happened yet. But the other warning is this way. Stop fighting because someone has already gotten hurt. and see the difference. But the Pharisees, again, they don't speak directly to the crowd, maybe because they feel threatened. And if the crowd hears them speak out against this king, the crowd might get upset because of their size, get upset at the Pharisees and overtake the Pharisees. But also, we can be assured that the Pharisees did believe that the crowd had already done something wrong. That they were guilty of giving false and undeserved praise, but they don't use that word. Instead, they use the softer word for rebuke as if to say, tell them to stop or else. Tell them to stop or else something bad might happen. And you see, the or else is because of fear for Rome. Going back to John 11, verse 48 that we just quoted, the last part, the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. The Pharisees, it's interesting, the Pharisees hated Rome, yet they felt some sort of safety in the hands under the authority of Rome. And if Rome believed the people to be a threat because of the shouts that this Jesus was some sort of a king, then they're all going to be in danger. They all might be in danger for their lives. The Pharisees had it good. Don't rock the boat. Don't disrupt the peace that we have with Rome. Not on account of this man. Beloved, in the world today, in our society today, Christianity is seen by so many as nothing more than something that disrupts peace with all men. It's seen by the world as something that promotes intolerance because of its nitpicky beliefs. It's considered to be something that attacks the freedom of choice, all kinds of choice. It does nothing more than to push its beliefs on everybody else and says that if you don't believe what we believe, you're in trouble, you're in danger. It simply turns the world upside down. And of course, we must say that all of this is true. But the world's solution to this is to silence Christianity. To silence it, for example, by making laws that silence preachers so that they cannot speak out against the Muslim or any other false religions. To silence preachers so they cannot tell the truth what the Bible says the truth is about homosexuality. To silence them so they cannot speak about a host of other socially accepted yet God-dishonoring beliefs and practices. Silence Christianity by removing prayer from public schools, by removing the Ten Commandments from courthouse walls, by removing crosses from public places on top of mountains. We all know that these things have been done or have been attempted in our lifetime. Silence Christianity in whatever way you have to. But silence it. Because we don't want to be told that we're sinners. That we have a need. and that there is hope. Yet to silence Christianity is unreasonable, just as the Pharisees' request and command was unreasonable, and we recognize this unreasonableness more and more as this challenge is met by His, that is, Jesus' incomprehensible response in the second place. Verse 40, I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. Now, no doubt this might have caused the Pharisees to shake their heads and ask, at least under their breath, what in the world are you talking about? Stones? Crying out? Speaking? Even a child knows that that's not possible. A stone is the most inanimate of inanimate objects. What are you talking about? Jesus is teaching here that He will be praised. he will be praised. But why stones? Why does he use the illustration of stones? It could be because stones were plentiful. The topography, the landscape of Palestine was much like Escondido, rocky and hard. 1 Kings 10, verse 27 says, And the king that is Solomon made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Stones we know were a part of creation, and the Word of God speaks often about creation praising God. Isaiah 55 verse 12 says, You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. We find something similar in Psalm 96 verses 11 through 13 where it speaks of the sea resounding and of the fields being jubilant and of the trees and the forest singing. The psalmist in Psalm 145 verse 10 says, all you have made will praise you. That's difficult for us as rational human beings to comprehend, to imagine the tree, a tree bursting into song. Or the mountains declaring His praise. Oh, maybe we see it in cartoons. Oh, it's real in the world of make-believe. But stones? I mean, okay, we can somewhat understand trees. We're in the season now of new life. Leaves are growing. And as the wind goes through and rustles it, there's a bit of a praise to God. We can hear the stream go over the rocks and we can hear the noise of that. But stones are the epitome of dead. Stones don't grow. Stones don't produce fruit. Stones don't serve a useful purpose. Altogether, they can be crushed up and used for base under roads. They can be used in construction. But a stone all by itself, it just sits there. It's the epitome of dead. It's impossible for a stone to speak. Yet it's not impossible. For the God who created man from the dust, who created the world from nothing, for God who made a donkey talk, for God who brought water out of a rock, it is not impossible if He should choose to make a stone cry out. Yet this is not about what God can do, beloved. But it's about what Jesus Christ says will happen. His point is that this event had to be celebrated. Redemption was coming. Salvation on that day was riding into Jerusalem. Salvation was coming. the promises upon which the people were founded, the promises of God from long ago were about to be fulfilled. And if the disciples remain quiet, the impossible will happen. Rather than that the messianic kingdom and that the redemptive work just a few short days away would fail to be recognized, instead of that happening, the impossible will happen. God will not let His King be forgotten. Jesus Christ will not let the doctrine of salvation be suppressed. even though the multitudes did not understand the true nature of the peace they shouted about. It's clear from verses 41 and 42, as He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from you. They didn't understand the true nature of that peace they shouted about. And although the way to His throne was entirely different than they could ever imagine, Yet here, Jesus approved of this praise because of the great truth that was being proclaimed. He is the Messiah. Redemption draweth nigh. He will be praised. Now there are a few different suggestions with regard to what Jesus was talking about when He said the stones would cry out. And I think they all have, in their own way, have merit. They all seem to make sense in their own way. One suggestion is that when Jesus says this, he is saying that it is no more possible for the disciples to keep silent than it is for stones to speak. That's, again, looking at the impossibility of stones speaking. Boys and girls, it's impossible, we say, and therefore some say Jesus is saying it is equally impossible for the disciples to remain silent about something so great. If you receive a wonderful gift or if you have great news that you've been told, you cannot keep it silent. You have to talk about it. It's impossible to keep this great news silent for the disciples. Another suggestion is that he is saying, if the disciples keep silent, the stones will be forced to proclaim the mighty acts of God. And still another suggestion is that this is somehow tied to Habakkuk 2 verse 11, which says, The stones of the wall will cry out and the beams of the woodwork will echo it. and the context there is a building of a building but also the wickedness surrounding that building the injustice and the building materials themselves crying out because of the injustice because of the iniquity and the bloodshed and applied to this text then that means that the stones will cry out against those who do evil and that can be one of two ways either the stones will cry out against the disciples who would sin by keeping silent or the stones cry out against the people who rejected Jesus, the Pharisees who rejected Jesus and silenced the disciples. All of these in their own way may have merit, but very simply, to fail to praise the King of glory is indeed an injustice. And I believe we might see a possible fulfillment of this just a few short days later. The voices of praise were silenced as He hung on the cross and the only voices that were heard were the voices that were hurling insults and abuses at Jesus. And Matthew records that at His death He gave up His Spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Our Lord's teaching here is that He will be praised. He shall be praised. But also that He must be praised because of who He is and what He was about to do and indeed has done. Jesus is in effect saying here to the Pharisees that the multitude's praise is right. It's accurate. although even the multitudes misunderstood Him. Jesus was revealing His identity at this very moment as the Messiah, as God Himself. And with these words, Jesus makes it clear that it is sinful not to shout His praise. God must be praised. And the Bible constantly calls for praise to God. For example, in Psalm 113, the first three verses tell us when to praise God and where to praise Him. Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised when, both now and forevermore. Where, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. And then the remainder of the psalm talks about why He is to be praised. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the one who sits enthroned on high? Because of who He is, but then notice also because of what He has done. Who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord. And go to Psalm 103. Read Psalm 103 today, especially the first five verses, but the whole psalm. You see the very same thing. because of who He is and what He has done and how He is to be praised. And Psalm 33, verse 1, Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous. It is fitting. It is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Beloved, His being, His majesty, power, glory, and holiness, His very being demands praise. It automatically draws praise. In Isaiah 6, verse 3, the seraphs saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. Those who understand by the grace of God His very being, His majesty and power cannot help but to praise Him. Beloved, eternity will be spent praising Him. Revelation 7, where we read about the multitude in white robes and they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And they were saying, Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. But not only will eternity be spent by believers praising Him, but one day every knee, every single knee will bow before Christ the King. As Paul says in Philippians 2, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. The Pharisees did not yet see this. The multitudes would still, in a few short days, reject Him. Yet this promise of stones crying out in praise to Him, I believe, points at least in part to the day when He will come again to put His enemies away forever and to take His bride to her eternal home. People of God, He must have the praise of our hearts and our lips and our hands and our feet. He must have the praise of our lives. We are to praise Him as our King who protects us. As our Lord who rules over us righteously and all of this for our good. But also we must praise Him as the One who brought us peace with God, who redeemed us, who bought us to be His very own possession. He must be praised as our Savior. Many do not recognize Jesus Christ as God the Savior and King and apart from repentance of their sins and faith in Him, Their end is clearly spoken of in verse 27, right before our text, the end of that previous parable, the ones who rejected the king, but those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me. The Pharisees' request was unreasonable because Jesus Christ is God, He is king, He shall be praised, He must be praised, but they rejected Him. And through His incomprehensible response, Jesus identifies those Pharisees with those enemies who didn't want the king. But those who by faith understand that He is the Lord of glory, they will offer to Him the praises of their whole lives, which He alone deserves. Brothers and sisters, only Christianity has a reason to praise Him. Only Christianity has a reason to live in hope. And that's because only Christianity has a God who is worthy to be praised because He is our Savior. This Friday evening, we have the privilege to come together to commemorate, to remember the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ and to celebrate what He accomplished as we come to the Lord's table. The Lord's table is the table of the Lord of glory. The Lord's table is the table of the victorious King Jesus. And we know that before we come, we are called to examine our hearts and lives that we might recognize the work of this Lord of glory for me. To examine, do I understand my sin and misery? Do I understand that Jesus Christ alone is the Savior and I'm sorry for my sins? And do I desire to live righteously? But our examination is also that each one of us should ask a particular question and that is this, do I let the world silence me? do I let the world silence my praise as is my praise silenced for any reason? By failing to protect His name when it's taken in vain. By failing to challenge sin when God gives us a clear opportunity to do so. Do we silence our praise by neglecting His worship? Do we silence it by trying to blend in with the world? We don't want to be seen as different. We don't want to be asked what's different about us. We don't want to be seen as those who are identified with Jesus. Is our praise silenced because we are embarrassed, ashamed of the Gospel? Or do we love the Lord so much that we cannot help but to speak His praise? See, as we come to the Lord's table, as believers, we do not come as outsiders who hear and see a contradiction, who hear the truth of Jesus Christ and a saving sacrifice. But it doesn't fit with the broken body and the shed blood as represented by the bread and the cup. We don't come as outsiders who hear a contradiction. But we come as those by the grace of God who recognize who He is and what He has done. We come to be nourished by the Lord with the Lord Himself. And we come, beloved, that we might ever live to praise His most holy name.